“Prairie.” I thought as I turned the corner to find tall hedges. One more corner and I was sure to be out of there, but as I turned the next corner, a wall of hedge stood as if it was laughing in the midst of my misfortune. My breathing was heavy as it always was as I rapidly spun in circles searching for any way out of the place. My lungs filled with the pungent air that I always found irksome to my senses. I even looked up to see if somehow I could climb the monstrous infestations of plant that loomed far above my head and mocked me from every direction, though after a while the thought seemed utterly non sequitur.
Sweat drenched every inch of my face and clothes. My tank top that was once white had turned a crass, grubby brown. There was only one thing I knew for a fact; I was in a maze. Every time my mind entered upon this dreamland, this esoteric conundrum, I would try to jolt myself awake and it often became painful. When I started to remember that the maze had no outlet, I looked once more to the night sky and figured climbing would be the superlative to the incessant running that I knew my body couldn’t handle anymore of. Jerk. “Ah!” I screamed out in pain; one jolt. I could feel claustrophobia creeping its way up my throat willing me to barf or scream; I wasn’t entirely sure.
I started at the sound—familiar, yet distant. The din grew louder and closer that I had to put my hands over my ears, but it didn’t help like I needed it to because the sound was still hammering in my ears, threatening my eardrums to burst. My legs shook and I crashed to my knees with my hands still over my ears. I screamed in pure agony at the familiar, torturous noise still reverberating through my ears, vibrating my whole body. Jerk. “Ahh!” I screamed, grabbing my side; two jolt. I thrashed around on the ground, grabbing at the roots of the hedges as my eyes burned with tears that ran hot over my cheeks. The tears ran into my mouth, making me taste fire like anger. I just need to get to Prairie. “Prai—Prai—Prairie…” my voice rasped out against the burning. I yanked at the roots of the plant to find more quagmires lying underneath. My nails turned brown, then black as the din heightened to a shrill sound of terror that at first hearing became unbearable. Jerk. “Ahhh!” My body twisted in agony; three.
I awoke gasping for breath as cold droplets of sweat ran down my neck and back and plastered my hair to my forehead. In my hands were my twisted sheets, “Not the roots…” I assured myself. My frantic, wide eyes welcomed the familiarities around me that told me I made it back to reality. My throat felt dry as I coughed and the burning continued. I tried to pull the soaked sheets from my legs, but I had trouble getting them untangled so I hit the hard wood floor on my hands and knees still gasping and trying not to suffocate. After turning my fan off, I stumbled down the stairs to get my sixth glass of water. The clock read 11:32. I had only fallen asleep for five minutes. Shakier than the last time, looking around every corner, and jumping at almost every incognito shadow that I knew I had already checked the time before sent me sprinting across the hallway to check on Prairie again.
Carefully cracking the old, wooden door, I tip-toed in, avoiding her little trinkets and dress-up shoes dispersed all over the floor and stopped to look at the sundry machines. I slid the guard down, and sat on the edge of her bed. I grabbed her hand and kissed it as I cried for the sixth time that night. Gently stroking back a stray, brown hair, I pulled the covers over her petite, little body and listened to her heart beat on the machine. “Prairie, I love you. I don’t know what sort of astute mastermind lie behind this chicanery, but they aren’t going to win. I won’t let them take you,” I whispered to her, my voice cracking from screaming or crying, I did not know. “I won’t let them take you.” I said as I tip-toed back out.
I returned to my room then and lay back down confident in trying not to dream as sleep inevitably pulled me under its blanket.“‘Prairie.’ I thought as I turned the corner to find tall hedges. One more corner and I was sure to be out of there, but as I turned the next corner—jerk. “Ah!” jolt one.”